


Birthday Past and Present

by daphnerunning



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Birthday, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-08
Updated: 2011-10-08
Packaged: 2017-10-24 10:02:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/262209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daphnerunning/pseuds/daphnerunning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barnaby helps Kotetsu pick out a birthday gift for Kaede.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Past and Present

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my Birthday Presents for All challenge on Tumblr. Tumblingkori wanted Kotetsu and Barnaby picking out Kaede's birthday present together, so...here it is!

“Oh, this is perfect! Kaede loves dolls!”

“No.”

“But—“

“She’s turning ten years old. You don’t buy dolls for a ten-year-old girl.”

Kotetsu frowned, setting the doll back on the shelf. “She used to like them a lot. She liked putting different dresses on them and giving them names and stuff.”

“That was the young Kaede. This is the almost-teenager Kaede.”

“Well, I’m not getting her teenager stuff yet. I’m not ready for her to be wearing short skirts and makeup and stuff. She’s still a little girl.”

“Only in your mind.” Barnaby shook his head slowly, then emptied the cart. “This is for a child. This is for a baby. This is for a boy. This is for a grandmother. This is for…what is this?”

Kotetsu snatched the bundle back from him. “It’s a stuffed animal bath toy, see? Isn’t that cute? It’s a lamb! You put soap in it and—“

“That’s weird. I told you, she doesn’t like it when you get her bath stuff.”

“She likes bathing, though! She used to like taking baths with her Daddy when she was little. Now she just calls me a pervert.”

Kotetsu sounded so confused, so miserable, that Barnaby took pity on him.

“That was a long time ago.” Instead of the usual derision, there was gentleness in Barnaby’s tone. He sighed, rubbing at his nose beneath the glasses. “Girls change fast at this age. They’re sensitive about it, too. They don’t understand why they’re changing so fast, but they’re scared to stay little kids forever when all their friends are turning into women. Then again, they’re afraid to change, too, because they know they’ll never be able to change back. They’re leaving behind everything they’ve ever known. It’s a very confusing time.”

Silence fell. A single coin fell from someone’s pocket. Barnaby heard every bounce, the entire roll, and the final spin for an eternity.

“What? Why are you staring at me?”

Kotetsu blinked, then ran a sheepish hand through his hair. “Sorry to stare. It’s only that you sounded like you really know what you’re talking about.”

“I do.” Barnaby turned and walked out of the toy section, into electronics. “Here, she’ll like this. It’s the newest model, which is cool, and it comes in pink, which is cute. Very Kaede.”

“Yeah, until she brushes against Pao-Lin and shorts it out. But listen to me for a minute. How do you know all that about girls? I mean, I’ve watched her grow up since she was a child, and I don’t know all that about how she’s feeling.”

Barnaby tossed the phone into the basket, as well as a spare in case of any accidents. “Come on. Let’s check out.”

“Oy, Bunny, I’m talking to you! Answer my question! How do you know about this?”

“Be quiet. You’re causing a scene. I’ll tell you in the car.”

Kotetsu balked at the price tag—privately, Barnaby thought he’d never get used to having enough money, no matter how long he’d had a high-paying job—but wouldn’t let Barnaby contribute, either. He grumbled about girls and hormones and secrets all the way to the car. “So? What is it?”

Barnaby pulled out of the parking lot. Once they were on the freeway, he said quietly, “You know I grew up in an orphanage. For whatever reason, I didn’t get along well with most of the boys there. There were a few older girls who took a liking to me.” A small smile creased his mouth. “Well, took pity on me at least. I spent most of my time with them.”

“Oh.” After a second, Kotetsu’s face brightened. “Like having sisters! That must have been fun!”

“It was fine. They were kind.” Barnaby didn’t mention the loneliness when he had to go back to the boys’ dorm to sleep, or the way the boys would tug at his hair and say…well, that didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t mention the ice-cold façade he’d developed as a defense against that taunting, or the fear of being vulnerable those days had instilled in him.

“I never had sisters. Just me and Muramasa, that’s it. I wish Kaede had a sibling,” Kotetsu said frankly. “I know she gets lonely.”

“If she did, you’d be twice the deadbeat dad you already are.”

“I’m not a deadbeat! I’m going for her birthday, aren’t I? I’m there all the time now, right?”

“That only makes it worse that you couldn’t decide what to get her!”

“That’s why I brought you along!”

When Kaede unwrapped the gift, she shrieked with delight. She gave her father a hug, then Barnaby a much longer one and a whispered, “I know you picked it out! Thank you, thank you!”

Barnaby patted her head. She deserved to be happy, after all. She should see her father as the hero he was, instead of the man who wasn’t there enough. He shut out any nagging sense of jealousy, the urge to tell Kaede exactly how lucky she was to have a father that could be there for her. Besides, what could he say? That when he’d turned ten, he wouldn’t have cared if his father had gotten him a bath toy or an old lady’s shoe or a scrap of paper off the ground, as long as he was alive? That was inappropriate, especially for a birthday party.

“Oy.”

Barnaby turned, and saw Kotetsu jerk his head at the car. “Where are we going?”

Kotetsu twisted his hat in his hands. “Well, it’s sort of a tradition. After the party every year, Kaede tells me which gifts she doesn’t like, and I return them and give her gift certificates instead.”

“So?”

He shrugged. “I don’t really return them. I drop them off at the orphanage across town.”

“You—why?”

Kotetsu shrugged. “Every kid deserves a birthday present, even if it isn’t their birthday. Speaking of which…”

He tossed Barnaby a lumpy little package, which the blond unwrapped. It was the lamb scrubber.

Kotetsu grinned. “Only twenty-four to go, eh?”


End file.
